HOUSTON -- A Houston area fertility clinic was slapped with a class action lawsuit Tuesday by couples who claim they were lied to about their chances of becoming pregnant. A court filing alleges that Aspire Houston Fertility Institute knowingly implanted at least five hopeful mothers with dead or damaged embryos. The lawsuit adds that this happened due to a massive laboratory failure at the company's Piney Point facility in west Houston.
Nicole Alarcon and her high school sweetheart husband Agustin said "I do" back in 2020. They tried for the next four years to have a baby naturally until ultimately turning to fertility treatments. Initially, it was a success.
Alarcon was told she produced 14 embryos viable for transfer. "Man, we were just so excited because for us, that meant 14 chances of getting pregnant, and we thought surely, we will get pregnant with 14 embryos," Alarcon said. She added that she received three transfers from the Aspire Fertility Institute.
She said two were unsuccessful and one resulted in a miscarriage. She underwent more testing, assuming it was her own biological failure. "Shortly after, we got a call from our doctor, and he told us that our embryos- that there was some sort of lab issue," Alarcon said.
The information shared on the call ultimately led the couple to join a class action lawsuit. According to the court filing, the so-called lab issue affected embryos retrieved and stored at its Piney Point facility in February and March this year. The .